Normal
by MomoDesu
Summary: All she wants to be is a normal woman.


Kikyo lay in her pallet, not too far from where her younger sister lay. She was waiting on the child to go to sleep, she had something that she wanted to do. As she listened for Kaede's breathing to even out she collected her thoughts. More plainly she thought about the stubborn hanyou while she fiddled with the gift she held tightly in her hand.

Why she couldn't kill him like she had any other demon she did not know. It wasn't pity. He had accused her of letting him live out of pity more times than she could count. That wasn't quite it. She couldn't exactly place her finger on it, but pity definitely wasn't it.

Then she thought about how he treated her. As time went on he treated her not as a priestess but as a normal woman, and that made her happier than anyone would ever know. From the moment she learned to walk she was trained by the elder priestess of the village. Now that the other woman was gone, she stepped into the role and the people of the village seemed to put her on a pedestal.

She hated it.

She sat up and looked over at the small girl next to her. She had finally fallen asleep, snoring even. Kikyo decided it was safe and silently slipped out of the blankets. Guided by the light from the dying fire she made her way to their small table and lit a candle.

The table was mostly bare, save for the few personal items that she and her sister owned. Reaching over to the other end of the table she picked up her favorite item; their mother's hand mirror. They had few things left of their parents so she cherished each and every reminder. 

Pulling the mirror up, she stared at her reflection. Even though she spent extensive time outdoors her skin was still pale. There was a bit of color in her cheeks, but not as much as she would have liked. She knew what would remedy that. Opening the seashell she lay it on the table, thinking about how she acquired it.

_She stared at him like he had grown another set of ears._

"Take it, I don't need it." He held his hand out to her and waited for her to take the gift he tried to disguise as a handout.

Carefully she took the small trinket and opened it.

"It belonged to my mother."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

Taking one look back at the sleeping girl to make sure she was still slumbering, Kikyo turned back to her mirror. With a slightly quivering finger she dabbed at the cream in the shell enough to collect a small amount of the makeup. She lightly rubbed her finger onto her lips, delighting at the red color that was appearing. As a last thought she dabbed her finger into the cream again, then blending it on her cheeks like she had seen her mother do many times before.

She smiled brightly at the woman that now stared back at her in the mirror. She felt beautiful, like the normal woman she longed to be. Many time she had wanted to give up the life of a priestess, the life she was born to lead. She wanted to be just like any other woman living in the village with a happy husband and a gaggle of happy plump children to care for. She didn't want to have the weight of the shikon jewel on her shoulders.

It was a thing she had discussed with Inuyasha many times. Of course the conversation never went beyond the two of them, but she wanted to use the jewel to make him human so they could live a happy life together. She sighed, knowing that their relationship would not be accepted very well by the people of the village because he was a hanyou. But he made her happy.

The rustling of the blankets behind her mad her put down her mirror and turn sharply.

"Sister?" the sleepy voice from within the cocoon mumbled.

"Yes, Kaede?" Her voice quivered, knowing that she had been busted.

"Are you coming to bed?"

Kikyo nodded. "I'll be there soon."

She turned back around to snuff the candle.

"Sister?"

"I'm coming." She stood from her position in front of the table and made her way back to the pallet and lay down next to her sister. "You need to sleep, you are a growing girl."

"Mmkay..." she said, already half asleep. "Kikyo?"

"What is it?"

"You look pretty." Kaede rolled over and sank back into the blankets, warm and comfortable with her sister next to her.

Kikyo smiled. The compliment, being one she rarely received in her position, warmed her. The smile still on her face, she curled up under the blankets next to her sister and drifted off into a blissful slumber.


End file.
